Dhinakaran and his aunt VK Sasikala were suspended from AIADMK after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy CM O Pannerselvam merged their factions in 2017.

Dhinakaran said that he knew the former won’t continue in the party for long. (ANI)

Day after his close aide and party member Thanga Tamilselvan joined the DMK, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dhinakaran Saturday said he had told VK Sasikala, in their last meeting, of Tamilselvan’s anti-party activities, adding that he was already in talks with the DMK and the AIADMK.

Dhinakaran and his aunt VK Sasikala were suspended from AIADMK after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy CM O Pannerselvam merged their factions in 2017.

Tamilselvan, who held the post of AMMK’s propaganda secretary, was a prominent face in Dhinakaran’s camp. He is the second prominent face from Dhinakaran’s side to join the DMK, the previous one being Senthil Balaji.

Reacting to Tamilselvan switching the sides, Dhinakaran said that he knew the former won’t continue in the party for long.

“When I last met VK Sasikala, I told her of the anti-party activities Thanga Tamilselvan is dong. I’d also told her I don’t know how long he will continue in the party. He was talking to both AIADMK & DMK,” Dhinakaran was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

However, Dhinakaran said the reason Tamilselvan could not make it in the AIADMK was because of deputy CM O Pannerselvam.

“But in AIADMK, he could not make it due to O Panneerselvam. That is why he joined DMK. When he was with AMMK, assignment was given to him and he was just following those assignments,” he said.

On Friday, Tamilselvan, after joining the DMK, said that the main reason for him to switch parties was because of the leadership vacuum in AIADMK.

“They lack a single leadership and are struggling to take decisions. So I didn’t want to join AIADMK,” he told reporters. He added that Stalin was a hardworking and strong leader and he was happy to work with him.

Meanwhile, Dhinakaran’s camp said that Tamilselvan was upset because of the party’s poor performance in the elections and wanted to switch.

“He was unhappy for AMMK’s performance in elections. He accused at least three district leaderships of the party for not performing well. When he went onto make his opinions before media, we opposed it,” a senior AMMK leader said.